


make it a home

by smashleyed



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 16:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30007437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smashleyed/pseuds/smashleyed
Summary: Hisoka thinks you need walls to have a home.
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Mikage Hisoka
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16





	make it a home

**Author's Note:**

> hey there! this takes place during the indefinite void of time between acts 4 and 5. i hope you enjoy! xo

Often, when Hisoka finds himself in Itaru's bed, he builds a nest. He can usually scrounge up enough spare blankets to do the job – usually without Itaru lifting a finger to help, but Hisoka doesn't mind as long as he'll play his personal space heater when the time comes.

(He always does.) 

Depending on his mood, he sometimes has to make a supply run to the room he shares with Homare, where they keep an abundance of blankets for when Hisoka nests in his own bed. Should Homare himself have any to spare, they inevitably end up taken prisoner most of the time.

Regardless of the number of blankets, though, Hisoka knows the best way to pile them up along the edges of the mattress, lining the walls and the railing with a messy barrier that's substantial enough to give Hisoka the child-like illusion of protection... but with enough give that it doesn't keep Itaru out.

Whenever Itaru decides to join him, that is. The gamer's high simply can't be ignored.

Hisoka tugs a small portion of his nest down so that he can watch Itaru play his video game on the TV, with Pen Pen peeking over the rail beside him. It's one of the story-driven ones he likes – a little somber and dialogue-heavy, but easy to follow.

On a night before this, Itaru had guided Hisoka through playing a couple of segments himself, with Banri and Citron as their curious audience, and Hisoka had enjoyed it. He hadn't even fallen asleep in the middle. Getting to hear Itaru chatter easily about game mechanics, and the victorious crowing he earned from the three gamers when he defeated a miniboss on his own, made the whole evening worthwhile.

Tonight, however, it's quite late. That's par for Itaru, and the time doesn't usually make a difference to Hisoka, anyway. But it gets to the point where Itaru accidentally steers his character off the edge of a tall cliff, resulting in their demise and costing him the moderately difficult enemy camp he'd just cleared as he's sent back to his last save.

Hisoka hears a muttered string of likely curses from the couch, and watches Itaru set his controller on his lap and rub the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"Taruchi," Hisoka calls in a childish drawl from the bed. "Is it bedtime yet?" Itaru turns to look up at him, furrow in his brow, and Hisoka gives a knowing little smile. "You only walk off cliffs when you're tired," he points out, leaning lightly against the rail.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Itaru grunts, passing his hands down his face. "What are you still doing awake, anyway?"

"I slept a little." Hisoka shrugs, then takes Pen Pen in his hands and makes it shrug its little flippers, too. "... Pen Pen says the bed's not as comfy without you in it, though."

"Is that right?" One corner of Itaru's mouth pulls up, but his hands return to his controller. "Tell Pen Pen that sounds like dark magic. Maybe my bed's been cursed."

"Maybe you're a dork," Hisoka answers, his tone lukewarm. His tolerance level for Itaru's nonsense is generally high, but right now he craves his cuddle partner. "Are you gonna come up?"

"No," Itaru struggles to say through a huge yawn, "no, not yet. I'm not that tired... I'm just gonna finish up this mission, okay? You mind?"

"Mmmn," Hisoka answers neutrally, and lets himself and Pen Pen sink into his blanket nest once more. Itaru probably wouldn't bend much even if he did mind, but he never minds. He thinks that's probably one of the reasons they can be what they are.

He falls back asleep thinking that if anyone tried to take Itaru's games away from him, he wouldn't let them.

When he wakes up again, the room is fully dark and there's some shuffling around the ground level. He sits up a little, but he can tell it's Itaru down there, because he always uses his phone's flashlight to get around after he turns the TV off.

He lays back down. "Did you finish the mission, Taruchi?" he asks softly.

There's a little "oh" before Itaru answers him. "Yeah. It took longer than I thought..." He yawns even harder than before. "Might have overdone it a little."

Hisoka hums at him. "It's alright. You don't have work tomorrow..."

The next yawn Hisoka hears a short moment later is close to the ladder. 

"I love the way you enable me, Hiso," Itaru coos, even as his voice is a tired croak.

Hisoka scoffs lightly at him as he climbs the ladder, though he can't suppress a little smile. "I know you do." He scoots over to make room for him, pressing himself into the other side of his blanket nest.

Itaru drags himself up next to Hisoka and drops face-down into the mattress halfway up the bed, a muffled _"Ugh"_ barely audible from where his face is buried in the sheets.

Amused, Hisoka tilts his head at him. "Do you have your phone?"

Itaru raises one hand, which holds the object in question. A moment later, he gets up on his forearms to squirm the rest of the way to the pillows. The tie is gone from his bangs, his hair left to stick up in whatever directions it pleases. It's cute, in an ugly way.

"I'd check if you have Pen Pen, but he's hard to miss," Itaru says. "And also, you _always_ have Pen Pen."

Hisoka pulls his arms tighter around the plush, ducking his head a little to press his nose and mouth to its soft head. "Mm."

"You like him that much, huh?" Itaru makes it onto his back, thumbs already working at his phone. Tired as he is, he still makes time for his mobile game duties at the end of every night. Hisoka can't help but find it a little impressive, as someone who can barely fight off sleepiness for a moment.

"Yeah..." ... _half as much as I like you._

Hisoka spares a few minutes watching Itaru start to run through games he has stamina to burn in. Phone games can be nice to observe when he's sleepy and comfortable, as he finds the repetition and the smooth assuredness of Itaru's thumb swipes to be almost hypnotic. Before long, though, he scoots closer and pushes at Itaru's shoulder deliberately.

Itaru gives him a quizzical sidelong look. It must be easy to read what he wants, because Itaru's face splits into a lazy grin after that. "Aww, someone's eager to get cozy," he teases softly, but otherwise doesn't lose stride in his phone game as he turns to face the railing.

Hisoka rolls his eyes while Itaru shifts around to get comfortable. "Just sleepy," he corrects him. So maybe he's a little annoyed that Itaru hit the mark. That's nobody's business but his own.

Nevertheless, he lets Pen Pen get squished between them as he moves in close and wraps his arm snugly around Itaru's middle. He presses his cheek to Itaru's shoulder blade, catching the usual faint scent of his bedclothes, then buries his face against the center of his back with a sigh.

Though the quiet sounds from Itaru's phone don't falter, Hisoka feels him melt into him a little, and one of his feet slides back to tangle their legs together. There's brief movement in his upper peripheral vision, Itaru glancing over his shoulder at him before turning back. Hisoka closes his eyes.

He's comfortable enough that normally he'd drift off. But the familiarity of their position leads him to a recent memory, something he'd done nothing with other than tuck it away, until now. He squeezes Itaru a little tighter as a noise of discontent rumbles from his throat.

Hisoka would like to think he never holds Itaru too tightly, but Itaru notices the change anyway.

"Oi," Itaru laughs quietly. His voice is a little rougher than before, the bed lulling him closer to sleep even as he resists to try and finish up with his mobile games. "I'm not a stress toy, Hiso. You okay?"

Hisoka hesitates before mumbling against his back.

"Say again?"

Though Hisoka rubs his forehead against him a little in reluctance, he pulls his face away after a moment. At length, he says, "I didn't like when I let go of you in my sleep, last time."

Itaru chuckles and turns to look at him. The outline of his profile is visible from the light of his phone on the other side of him. "Why not?"

Hisoka doesn't answer, silent as he presses his cheek to Itaru's back and looks at the nest of blankets surrounding them.

He doesn't think about it often, and if there was ever a concrete reason, it's as lost to him as the rest of his memories. But there are times he feels like he knows why he builds those walls, why they make him feel so safe.

Walls make it harder to run. Whatever had pulled him away from the life he had before, if he just builds enough walls, maybe it won't come for him a second time. Maybe he won't have to let go ever again.

In the following moments, Itaru remains still, but Hisoka doesn't look back. He thinks, from the corner of his eye, he can see Itaru's face change, his amused smile fading away. The background music from Itaru's phone game runs uninterrupted by interface selection sounds, for once.

Itaru wriggles in his grip with a resolute huff, and Hisoka seamlessly resigns to loosening his arm so Itaru can turn to face him as he wishes. He leaves his phone on his other side, treating Hisoka to both hands running gingerly through his hair.

They both know there's a lot Hisoka can't tell him, whether he wants to or not.

"... Try not to worry about it," Itaru says, an uncertain lilt to his words.

Hisoka nods, a little stiffly. He stares at the blankets that line the bed, despite how he can sense that Itaru's eyes seek his out.

Apparently not satisfied with that, Itaru sets one palm against Hisoka's cheek, and the fingertips of his other hand run down the curtain of hair that perpetually covers half of his face. He just barely begins to brush it away from his forehead before his fingers still, a wordless but clear question that he's asked before.

Hisoka sighs softly and closes his eyes. His fingers wrap lightly around Itaru's wrist, and he leans into his hands, giving his permission.

For all the button mashing Itaru does, his touch can be exceedingly gentle. He pushes Hisoka's hair back, all the way off his face, and cards his fingers through it in soft, repetitive motions that nearly lull Hisoka away right there, despite everything else.

"It doesn't matter if you let go of me," Itaru says, his feather-soft voice almost falling into a rhythm that matches the movement of his hand. "You're always here when I wake up."

His speech is still just halting enough to be noticeable, like he's blindly hoping he's saying the right things. Hisoka knows Itaru isn't fully confident with words of comfort, which is a trait they share, but he's trying. He makes Hisoka want to try, too.

Itaru lifts his chin, pauses, then leans in to press a kiss to Hisoka's brow above his left eye, then another above his right. Hisoka sighs, because it feels like his heart has swelled enough to shove the air right out of his lungs.

As Itaru pulls back, Hisoka blinks his eyes open and darts up to peck the corner of his mouth, quick enough that Itaru doesn't even have a chance to flinch. "Thank you," he says, reaching up to run his thumb along Itaru's jawline.

Itaru huffs a little. "For what?" he asks, gently dismissive.

Hisoka looks away, brow furrowing a little as he tries to dig the words up from deep inside his chest. He runs the backs of his fingers over Itaru's cheek, then finally answers, "... For letting me stay."

Itaru is still for a moment, then he tries to shrug one shoulder, but doesn't completely follow through with the gesture. His face warms beneath Hisoka's hand as he pulls in a deep breath, then says, "I'll always... let you stay."

Itaru clears his throat. Hisoka might be in love.

Needless to say, he couldn't fathom this if he tried. If he had to guess, he'd assume the warmth blossoming in his chest is because Itaru's nerves are so endearing. So he chuckles and gently pinches Itaru's cheek.

"You're so cute," he coos.

" _Oi,_ " Itaru gripes, though he's laughing too, even as he pushes Hisoka's hand away. "Don't tell me we went through all that just so you could take a jab at me." His tone is lukewarm, however; equally as warmly joking.

"No..." Hisoka sobers a little as he leans in, wrapping both of his arms around Itaru's neck in a hug. Itaru hums and pats at his back. "I... I want to stay... for as long as you'll let me. And if that's always, then..."

"Then I guess we're stuck with each other," Itaru finishes softly.

Hisoka moves to kiss his cheek, and they share a brief smile, barely visible for the darkness.

"Speaking of stuck..." Itaru yawns hard and gently unwinds his arms from around Hisoka, who follows suit. "Don't you have rehearsal early tomorrow?"

"Mmm... yeah."

"You're gonna be more tired than usual. I'm making Homare's job harder by keeping you up."

It's true, but Hisoka can't stop smiling regardless. "I'll have to let him know you're the culprit."

"Fair enough..." Another yawn. It looks like Itaru's lack of sleep is catching up with him again, now that he's done playing Hisoka's hero.

"You have to finish your games so you can sleep."

"Believe me, I know. Now I have even more energy left to use up..."

"My fault..."

"Your fault."

After Itaru turns around and picks his phone up again, he scoots back a little and reaches to pull Hisoka's arm in place around him. Hisoka plays ragdoll for Itaru until all their limbs are back where they were before and he's breathing deep against Itaru's back.

Some moments later, he's in and out of drifting off when Itaru lets out a noisy, final yawn. Hisoka hears the click of his phone locking. "Forget it. I can't keep my eyes open." He sighs breezily. "Oh well... I won't cap out on energy before I wake up, anyway... You're just like a sleeping pill, Hiso, I swear."

Hisoka smiles and turns his head enough so that his voice isn't muffled. He can see one of Pen Pen's flippers sticking out from between them through half-lidded eyes. "Really? Do I have any side-effects?"

After a quiet moment of consideration, Itaru chuckles. "Plenty."

Hisoka closes his eyes and holds him fast.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading, and thank you to my alistair for beta reading for me!
> 
> if you also like hisoita and would like to encourage me becoming queen of the tag, or just yell with me about a3, hit me up at @queen4shley on twitter!
> 
> thanks again xoxoxo


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